Fence-post.



F. F. TOBIAS.

FENCE POYSYT. APPLICATION FILED PEB. 24, 1913.

1,063,142. ratentedmaygzw] FRANK r. ToBI'As, or omcaeo, rLLrNoJIzs,

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INGLIS,\ OF CH ssIGNon or cnn-HALF To ROBERT P. o, ILLINOIS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led February 24, 1913. Serial No. 750,088.

To all whom z' may concern Be it known that I, FRANK F. Tontas, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in theI county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented lcertain new and usefulImprovements in Fence-Posts, of

which they following is a specification.

This invention has reference in general to fence posts and, moreparticularly, to metallic fence posts and aims to provide a post of thisgeneral character which will beV strong anddurable and which will be soconstructed that the line wiresl of a fence may be readily attachedthereto and securely held in engagement therewith without theemploymentl of'laetening means structurally y independent of the post. I

Another object is to provide a post to which the fence wires may bereadily and quickly attached withoutthe employment of f special toolsfor that purpose.

. and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the'line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

On the dra-wings,V reference character 11 designates the body portion ofmy improved post which is'formed of sheet-metal preterably bent intosubstantially cylindrical shape as shown with the free edges of thesheet extending radiallyfrom the body to provide an Voutstanding flange12 extending longitudinally of the post. The parallel edges of the metalsheet forming the iange 12 are rigidly secured together in anyconvenient manner but, in the present instance, this result isaccomplished in a simple and convenient way by punching out lips 13 fromboth thicknesses of the Hange, these lips bei ing bent laterally anddownwardly at the base of the Hangs against one face thereof so that theplies of the metal forming the ange are securely and rigidly lockedtogether by these lips. It will be manifest Patented May 27, 1913.

that by connecting the plies of metal, forming the flange, together atvthe base ot' the tiange and adjacent. to the body portion of the post Iproduce a rigid and substantial post, the body portion of which will notbe spread or distorted by driving or handling. The apertures resultingfrom the formation of the lips 13 are adapted to receive and hold theline wires 14' of a wire fence. In order that the wires may heintroduced into these apertures, I have cut the material of the flangevfrom the apertures to thev free edge thereof, forming slits 15 whichare preferably inclined downwardly from the tops of the apertures to'thefree edge of the Hange. The material of the flange adjacent the slitsand the apertures is then bent laterally as indicated by referencecharacter 16 in Fig. 2, thereby providing the slots 17 through which thewires/may be. introduced into the apertures. inserted through a slotinto the aperture the bent portion 17 is returned to the plane of theHangs by a pair of pincers, or, even by means of a. hammer, so that itassumes, the position shown in Fig. 1thereby forming an outer wall 'forthe aperturewhich prevents removal of the wire from the aperture andsecurely attaches the wire to the post. After each wire is introducedinto its respective aperture the portion 17 is bent up to hold it inplace. The fence wires are thereby securely attached to the postswithout the employment of any fastening means structurally independentof the posts and the connection between the posts and the wire'may be4readily etliectcdwithout the employment of any specially designed tools.In Fig. 2 I .have shown one of the tree edges of the metal asterminating substantially in a line with the outer edges of thewire-receiving apertures instead ot' terminating flush with the outeredge of the flange.' This construction permits the lips 18 to be struckup from both thicknesses of the metaly to rigidly secure the partstogether, but necessitates the bending of-only one thickness for thepurpose of attaching the wil-esto the post, This structure is particularly desirable when the posts are made of very heavy metal.

It will be manifest from the foregoing that I have provided a post whichis of sim-I ple construction, which will be cheap to After a wire hasbeen manufacture and which will be serviceable and durable. The fencewires may be readily attached to such a post and securely connectedthereto Without the employment of any special tools or any fasteningmeans I apart from the post structure itself. When the wire-receivingapertures have been closed by bending up that portion of the materialbeneath the slits, no amount of lateral strain obvious that theinvention is capable of various modification in details of constructionWithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim: v 1. A fence post, comprising a sheet of metal bent to forma'substa'ntially cylindrical body portion, and a flange portion formedbythe edges of the metal projecting l r vided with wirereceivingapertures formedby striking up said lips and having means for retainingWires in said apertures.

2. A fence post, comprislng a 'sheet of metal shaped to provide a bodyportion, and a flange consisting of a plurality of thicknesses of metal,projecting from said body portion, secured together by lips struck-upfrom said thicknesses of meta-l, said flange having Wire-receivingapertures formed by the displacement of the metal to provide said lipsand also having provisions for rctaining Wires in said apertures. l

FRANK F. ITOBIAS.

Witnesses:

WM. O. BELT, F. CHASE.-

